Altering.. Neutering/Spraying?

[beemarie]

I want to know everyone's opinion about it?

It has crossed my mind since i recently found out Chico is a girl. I would love for Benny and Chico to become a pair but I DO NOT want babies, It has too many responsibilities. I dont know how i feel about it. I do not have enough info to make the decision.

Can some one inform me about it? and their opinion. If you have ever altered your chin?

 

[Stackie]

Use the search function, as this topic has been asked many times and you will find many opinions and information already posted.

If you do decide to do it, I would do a neuter as a spay is a much more invasive surgery. Also be aware that just because you get one altered does not mean that they ultimately will live together happily.

 

[Sugarised]

look through my old posts, i have castrated my male. It was a big risk but it paid off. He was too lonely on his own, and he loved his lady cage mate. I did it to reduce the fight-potential between male-male. Theres a potential with any new pairing, but i hoped for a sexual bond to prevent such things. i was lucky, but many in here have both positives and negatives of pairing same sex chins. I don't see many with neutered chins. which is why i posted a lot about my chin when he went through it

 

[beemarie]

I read a lot of old post and me and my boyfriend talked about it and we still cant decide. There's a lot of risk. And they may not even like each other. My boyfriend and my dad think I don't want to bond them just because I don't want Benny having a bond with another woman. Lol but it's more it's a big decision that I need to think about more..

 

[Sugarised]

it is a big one, i found that the operation etc wasn't a problem at all. it calmed his randiness down with me, but then he did replace me with dita. you will be shut out if he has a lady friend. but like you say they may not like each other, which is a risk with em all. it was so tough for me, i jsut went for it because i thought i'll go the whole hog and see if i can get him a sexy lady haha!

 

[tunes]

I have two castrated males here living together happily. They had surgery when they were three months old (not my choice, I just recently got them back from the previous owner). Apparently she was afraid they would fight. The vet was very experienced, she was a vet tech there and knew what to look for, and the boys bounced back with no problems.

Rarely will people post on a form HEY! My chin had surgery and he's doing GREAT! What you see are the horror stories because people need help. That doesn't address whether the chins will live together well or not. There's no way to know and you may go through all this for nothing. If it was me, I would just keep them separate and save myself the money and the possible heartache.

 

[Claire D]

Rarely will people post on a forum HEY! My chin had surgery and he's doing GREAT!

*raises hand* I'll happily do that.

I've had a number of chins here neutered over the years and never had an issue - the most recent is a small chin (11 months old) who has been castrated so he can be paired up with a female. He had surgery on Friday and is doing very well.

The key is in finding a chinchilla competent vet you can trust who has experience of successfully castrating chinnies - since the surgery can be fiddly and they need to have the inguinal canal stitched.

Good pain relief, clean cages, and careful post-op care are also required.
http://www.davidson-chinchillas.co.uk/pages/initial_post_operative_care_of_chinchillas_following_surgery.php


Having said all of that, every surgery/anaesthetic is a risk and most owners will worry over their decision to have a chin castrated - because of the risks involved - it's definitely something to consider carefully and, as Peggy has said, even with successful castration, there is no guarantee two chins will get on together.